And…. I’m back! Yep, the little break I took for my birthday ended up turning into two weeks due various time suckers occupying my days in New York, but now it’s time to go on with the Weekly Wednesday Video series.
Today I’d like to take you all to Mongolia, a vast and isolated Asian country I got to visit with my dad during the Trans-Siberian train trip last fall. Unfortunately our time there was reduced to just five days due to China’s Golden Week celebrations messing up train schedules, but we did get to experience a few cool things. One of those was the 55-minute performance of the Tumen Ekh ensemble. The entertaining talent show features typical Mongolian throat singing, wildly twisting contortionists, folk dancing and funky masks.
The show was highly recommended to us by the Sun Path Hostel‘s manager Doljmaa (pronounced “Deutsch-ma”), so we couldn’t miss it – even though we almost did. We only had about ten minutes until show time when we hopped into a taxi outside the guesthouse in Ulaanbaatar. Despite encountering major language issues, we got our point across to the driver and magically made it to the theater just in time.
And I’m glad we did! The show was definitely one to remember. Here’s a short recap of what to expect if you ever get to attend a Mongolian talent show.
Have you been to Mongolia? Any interest in going?
Writer On The Move 
I went to Mongolia in the winter a few years ago – amazing place. A few us hired a jeep and driver and travelled round staying in gers (aka yurts) – coldest thing I’ve experienced in my life! We had the good fortune to hear a throat singer, too – really something else.
Nice! I wanted to do the jeep tour too, but we didn’t end up having time. We did sleep a few nights in a ger, visiting an American Couchsurfer guy who was doing his peace corps duty in a small Mongolian village. That was quite an experience too! That’s great that you also heard a throat singer, their way of performing is definitely unique.. 🙂